15-year-old Chilean wins Street Fighter 6 championship at Esports World Cup

Chilean pro Jaime “Craime” Bustos, 15, has become the youngest player ever to win an Esports World Cup championship for Street Fighter 6. The young rising star has already made an impression on the fighting games world since his competitive debut in 2024 at the age of 12, but he has now taken the next step and lifted his first major trophy. Taking on much more experienced rivals, his path to victory here at the EWC 2026 has only been made more impressive given his young age, as he’s etched his name into the history books already, with still so much room for the young champion to grow. Craime faced off against Hibiki in the grand final, the oldest fighter in the top eight at 30 years old. Hibiki made his way to the grand final after an epic LCQ run, where he was one of just five Street Fighter 6 players to make it through to the main event out of 269 competitors. Craime dominated the final 5-2, leaving barely any space for his opponent to breathe. Despite losing the first game, Craime was able to rack up win after win in the battle between youth and experience, and was the first to hit five games, with just two losses to Hibiki, ending the Japanese veteran’s magical run. The Team Falcons fighting game prodigy swept through one of the toughest possible brackets in his path to a historic win at this year’s Esports World Cup. After only losing a single game during the group stages, Craime secured his path to the finals bracket with ease. Out of the gate, Craime took down EVO 2026 winner Saul Leonardo “MenaRD” Mena II in the quarterfinals in a 5-3 win. Not content with just one EVO winner, the Chilean pro set his sights on EVO Japan 2026 winner Eisuke “Yamaguchi” Yamaguchi, taking him down with just as much prowess in the semi finals. Having secured the biggest win of his life so far, Craime said, “I’m very, very happy for my win, and I can’t wait to go back to Chile. This isn’t just me, this is everyone who comes in and helps me. I can’t wait to share this with them.” Craime follows in the footsteps of fellow Chilean pro Derek “Blaz” Blaz, who came second in last year’s Street Fighter 6 at Esports World Cup tournament, also at age 15. When asked if there was something special about Chile and the fighting game scene, Craime said, “You know, in Chile, there’s the power.” Along with becoming the youngest SF6 at EWC 2026 champion, and the youngest EWC winner to date, Craime walks away with $250,000, qualification for Capcom Cup 13, and 1,000 Club Championship points for Team Falcons. That first-place finish takes Team Falcons up to the top of the Club Championship standings at the end of Saturday, with the two-time defending champions once again looking like the team to beat. After an uncharacteristically slow start, Falcons has now got its much needed first tournament win, and has shot to the top of the leaderboard. As a heavily favored team in the Call of Duty: Warzone Resurgence Series Championship tomorrow, that lead could grow even further before the weekend is over. Earlier, EVO Japan 2026 winner Eisuke “Yamaguchi” Yamaguchi took on 15-year old Hinao in the fight for third place. Hinao made his competitive debut just last year and was only promoted to REJECT’s main roster back in May 2026. Using Sagat, Hinao triumphed over Yamaguchi’s Mai in the best-of-nine, locking in a third-place finish and $70,000 in winnings for his Esports World Cup tournament. While not a grand final finish, Hinao’s future is looking incredibly bright. As some of the youngest competitors of the tournament, both Hinao and Craime are undoubtedly on track to become Street Fighter legends and are leading the exciting new generation of fighters. The post 15-year-old Chilean wins Street Fighter 6 championship at Esports World Cup appeared first on GamesBeat.

Aug 2, 2026 - 08:26

15-year-old Chilean wins Street Fighter 6 championship at Esports World Cup

Chilean pro Jaime “Craime” Bustos, 15, has become the youngest player ever to win an Esports World Cup championship for Street Fighter 6.

The young rising star has already made an impression on the fighting games world since his competitive debut in 2024 at the age of 12, but he has now taken the next step and lifted his first major trophy. Taking on much more experienced rivals, his path to victory here at the EWC 2026 has only been made more impressive given his young age, as he’s etched his name into the history books already, with still so much room for the young champion to grow.

Craime faced off against Hibiki in the grand final, the oldest fighter in the top eight at 30 years old. Hibiki made his way to the grand final after an epic LCQ run, where he was one of just five Street Fighter 6 players to make it through to the main event out of 269 competitors.

Craime dominated the final 5-2, leaving barely any space for his opponent to breathe. Despite losing the first game, Craime was able to rack up win after win in the battle between youth and experience, and was the first to hit five games, with just two losses to Hibiki, ending the Japanese veteran’s magical run.

The Team Falcons fighting game prodigy swept through one of the toughest possible brackets in his path to a historic win at this year’s Esports World Cup. After only losing a single game during the group stages, Craime secured his path to the finals bracket with ease.

Out of the gate, Craime took down EVO 2026 winner Saul Leonardo “MenaRD” Mena II in the quarterfinals in a 5-3 win. Not content with just one EVO winner, the Chilean pro set his sights on EVO Japan 2026 winner Eisuke “Yamaguchi” Yamaguchi, taking him down with just as much prowess in the semi finals.

Having secured the biggest win of his life so far, Craime said, “I’m very, very happy for my win, and I can’t wait to go back to Chile. This isn’t just me, this is everyone who comes in and helps me. I can’t wait to share this with them.”

Craime follows in the footsteps of fellow Chilean pro Derek “Blaz” Blaz, who came second in last year’s Street Fighter 6 at Esports World Cup tournament, also at age 15. When asked if there was something special about Chile and the fighting game scene, Craime said, “You know, in Chile, there’s the power.”

Along with becoming the youngest SF6 at EWC 2026 champion, and the youngest EWC winner to date, Craime walks away with $250,000, qualification for Capcom Cup 13, and 1,000 Club Championship points for Team Falcons.

That first-place finish takes Team Falcons up to the top of the Club Championship standings at the end of Saturday, with the two-time defending champions once again looking like the team to beat. After an uncharacteristically slow start, Falcons has now got its much needed first tournament win, and has shot to the top of the leaderboard. As a heavily favored team in the Call of Duty: Warzone Resurgence Series Championship tomorrow, that lead could grow even further before the weekend is over.

Earlier, EVO Japan 2026 winner Eisuke “Yamaguchi” Yamaguchi took on 15-year old Hinao in the fight for third place. Hinao made his competitive debut just last year and was only promoted to REJECT’s main roster back in May 2026. Using Sagat, Hinao triumphed over Yamaguchi’s Mai in the best-of-nine, locking in a third-place finish and $70,000 in winnings for his Esports World Cup tournament. While not a grand final finish, Hinao’s future is looking incredibly bright.

As some of the youngest competitors of the tournament, both Hinao and Craime are undoubtedly on track to become Street Fighter legends and are leading the exciting new generation of fighters.

The post 15-year-old Chilean wins Street Fighter 6 championship at Esports World Cup appeared first on GamesBeat.

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